


The Demon in Greychapel

by astro98



Category: Purple Hyacinth - Ephemerys & Sophism (Webcomic)
Genre: Blood, Gen, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:16:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26818690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astro98/pseuds/astro98
Summary: Unbidden memories come rushing in.
Relationships: Lauren Sinclair & Kieran White, Lauren Sinclair/Kieran White
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	The Demon in Greychapel

Night gradually gave way to dawn. After he parted ways with Lauren, Kieren found himself mindlessly wandering the streets of Ardhalis. He ended up on a street corner, leaning on a lamppost, surveying the royal gardens. Leaves fluttered along the pavement. People’s faces and trees were bathed in increasingly rose light. Lovers were giggling and making their way back home after a long night of mischief. He cracked his neck and wandered into the gardens. Just as he passed through the gate, a sudden feeling of being watched came over him. He turned to see who it was. A brown-haired woman dressed in white sat on a bench not too far from where he was, but not close enough for him to make out her features or whether she was looking at him. He didn’t recall knowing any dangerous brunettes, and with that, the uneasy feeling subsided.

He sighed, ‘’I should probably be getting home.’’ 

The smell of soil and aromatic plants was a welcome change to what he became accustomed to nowadays. Rust and rotten flesh. The stench of ‘death’ ever-present in his life. Lately, it’s been there almost every day. The difference between his blood and others no longer registers in his mind. He is slipping, he knows that. Nothing he could do would stop his descent. He takes a deep breath and the chill of winter hits his lungs, Inviting memories from last week.

It was midnight, and the ground was covered in thick snow. Kieren looked out the window in silence. He and Lauren were supposed to be considering their next move, but he hasn’t been helpful tonight. They have been hitting dead ends for months now and frustration was building up. It didn’t help that they were being hunted down by both the Phantom Scythe and the APD, and both were closing in on them. 

‘’What is it?’’, Lauren sighed. 

He turned and glanced at her for a second then asked, “Do you think it’s going to be bad?’’

‘’The storm you mean?’’

He nodded.

‘’Yeah, I heard that it’s going to be the worst the region has witnessed in a long time’’

She noticed him fidgeting. 

‘’Are you afraid of storms by any chance?’’ she teased with a raised eyebrow.

‘’No, it’s just…’’ he stopped. Then, ‘’I need to go somewhere, you can stay here and continue without me.’’ he said in a hurry, reaching for his coat. 

‘’Hey, where the hell are you going? We haven’t come up with any other plan since your ID guy turned out to be dead’’. She pointed out.

‘’Ah, we’ll figure it out later.’’, he said with his hand on the doorknob already. 

‘’I'm coming with you!’’ 

‘’Knowing you, nothing I could say would change your mind.’’ he sighed.

The night greeted them with cold, harsh silence, and soon after they left his apartment snow began falling again. Everything was erased by the overwhelming white. The world seemed to disappear. There is no sound, nothing. Smoke was coming out of chimneys, and a thick blanket of mist cloaked everything, making it almost impossible to see. If you didn’t know the streets, you would surely lose your way.

After twenty minutes or so of walking in silence, not knowing where they were going, Lauren finally asked,

‘’Where are we going?’’

‘’I want to check in on some friends. It won’t take long.’’

‘’You have friends?”, she said sarcastically

“You know even the devil has a heart, Lauren.’’ 

Before she could say anything else he added, ‘’We’re here.’’

  
In front of them stood a great abandoned factory. A building that once stood tall and symbolized the power and progress of the nation is now an eerie reminder of its economic and moral decline caused by the corrupt elite leading this country. It is now reduced to a mere husk of what it once has been. Often used as a shelter by the homeless children of Greychapel and the surrounding poor areas.

‘’Kids, I'm here!’’

He sighed. 

‘’Listen, guys, I’m sorry about last week. I couldn’t make it. To make up for it, I brought a...’’ He regarded Lauren for a moment, ‘’… friend’’, a smirk playing on his lips.

Nothing. 

‘’Hey, kids! Are you there?!’’, he yelled, panic seeping into his voice.

Stories of street children, beggars, runaways mysteriously disappearing were common around these parts. No one would miss a bunch of children forsaken by the world, so they were easy targets for depraved and sick men. But lately, there’s been an alarming surge in the number of cases. Last week alone, five children vanished without a trace, two of whom had families. This had never happened before. The police did nothing about it before, and they continue to do so. Such is the case in poor districts. A few days after, people reported seeing the family of one of the missing kids being thrown out of the station while begging the officers to find their missing son.

‘’We are not wasting our time searching for a runway.’’, one officer said dismissively. 

‘’Besides, he is probably dead from the cold by now.’’ the other mocked. 

This public display of the corruption that runs rampant around this country would remind those who were present of the depressing reality that comes with living in this hellhole named Ardhalis. No one knew what happened to the children, but some had dark speculations pointing towards the worst of the worst.

The silence of the night remained unbroken for a long minute. With each second, fear’s hold tightened around him more. Lauren glanced at him, noting the lines forming between his brows.

She attempted to sound reassuring, ‘’Maybe someone beat us to it and took them in for the night, after all, it’s freezing out tonight’’

‘’I suppose so.’’

‘’Come on, let’s get back before the storm gets worse.’’, she said, grabbing his arm. 

Just as they were about to leave a red glint on the ice caught his eye. He moved hesitantly towards it. It was blood. Fresh crimson blood. He drew in a shaky breath and rushed into the factory. Hoping, praying even that it was the blood of an injured animal that got stuck in the wires surrounding the place, and not what his mind was jumping at. Just as he stepped into the building a strong sense of dread welcomed him. His breath hitched, and he froze. 

It was too dark to see anything, but there was no mistaking the powerful odor of blood.

Lauren was standing right behind him, ‘’Hey… maybe we should go home.’’ 

He stood there motionless.

‘’See, it's even starting to snow.’’

Mustering all the courage he had, he finally ventured into the darkness. Five minutes passed, and he hadn’t come back nor made a sound. Lauren was getting anxious, so she called out to him, but no reply came. When she finally made her way in, the scene in front of her was not what she expected to find. There he was, illuminated by the moonlight, wide-eyed in shock, jaw clenched and lips contorted, blood drained from his face. In his arms was a limp body of a little girl. Her white dress drenched in blood. Her blood. He just held her without making a sound. The pool of scarlet liquid threatening to drown him. A vivid picture of pain. A shocking look on the face of the so-called cold-blooded assassin. One that Lauren will never forget. The only thing he could remember though was the overwhelming red. 

He was pulled back into the present by the sudden noise of an automobile’s horn going off. He took a deep breath and made his way to the center. In the garden's heart, a giant royal empress planted itself and spread its branches in all directions. He stood at the foot of the tree and looked up through branches at the sky. The waning gibbous shimmered weakly above him, a constant reminder of his partnership with her. It was his twenty-fifth year—the fourth month after he first met Lauren.

**Author's Note:**

> This man likes to sigh. Thank you so much for taking the time to read the first chapter of this fic! Big thanks to Naveri and Chaotix for beta reading and offering great advice! This was supposed to be a one-shot but somehow It kept developing lol. If you enjoyed reading, please consider leaving a comment!


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